Contents

History of use

Early history and origins

Little is known about this Pensieve's origins, but the Pensieve was probably used many times before Harry Potter came along. As Dumbledore was collecting memories of Lord Voldemort from the time of the First Wizarding War, it can be assumed that he had acquired it by then. Whether it was made specially, or if he acquired it some other way is unknown.

As he had been told to report such things to Dumbledore, Harry hastened to the Headmaster's office. When he arrived, he overheard the final stages of an argument concerning the disappearance of Bartemius Crouch Sr.. Upon being left alone by the adults, Harry first found the Pensieve in a private cupboard with the door ajar. There were already memories in it that Dumbledore had been reviewing prior to the arrival of Minister for MagicCornelius Fudge. Curiosity got the best of Harry, and he looked too closely at the instrument. When his nose touched the odd substance, Harry fell into the memory that was inside the Pensieve.[2] Initially confused, Harry settled in to watch a hearing for the Durmstrang InstituteHighmaster, Igor Karkaroff. He was chained and bedraggled looking. In the memory, he had come from Azkaban to give up the names of his fellow Death Eaters. Of the names he listed, many fell flat, until he accused Augustus Rookwood, an Unspeakable.[2] The room suddenly transitioned, and Harry was watching the sentencing of Ludo Bagman, who had been unwittingly used by Rookwood. He also saw the trial of Wizengamot juror Barty Crouch's son, Barty Jr., along with Death Eaters Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan Lestrange. They were accused and convicted of torturing Alice and Frank Longbottom into insanity, and Crouch imprisoned his son. Albus Dumbledore found Harry in this memory and got him out. Dumbledore then told Harry the use of a Pensieve, and the purpose of his.[2]

1996

"The light was coming from the Pensieve sitting on Snape's desk. The silver-white contents were ebbing and swirling within. Snape's memories... things he did not want Harry to see if he broke into Snape's defences accidentally."

A few days before the Christmas holidays in 1995, Harry had vision in which he could see, from within the snake's mind, NaginiattackingArthur Weasley.[3] He subsequently felt Lord Voldemort well up inside him. Concerned about these new developments, Dumbledore ordered Harry to take Occlumencylessons with Severus Snape the next year.[4] He also allowed Snape to use the Pensieve for the duration of the lessons, most likely to provide the Potions master with a means to hide his own secrets, as well as protect Snape's own (very unpleasant) memories in case his attempts to train the boy, by repeatedly exposing Harry to Legilimency, were to backfire due to a Shield Charm.[4] While Snape was out during one of these lessons, Harry found the memories that Snape had stored; one in which he was a little boy crying in a corner, another during his Hogwarts years, and the last of Harry's father James Potter and godfather Sirius Black bullying Snape, while Snape was not very innocent on his own, sending back painful hexes at James. James then publicly humiliated him, resulting in Lily Evans', Harry's future mother, defence of the teenage Snape, as the two were friends. Snape then said he did not need help, calling Lily a "mudblood," a derogatory term for muggle-borns.[5] This caused Lily to get very agitated, and led the two to fall out. This would later prove to be Snape's worst mistake.

Once Snape found out Harry saw this, he got very angry at Harry, even throwing things at him. Snape subsequently terminated the Occlumency lessons with Harry.[5]

Sometime in July of that year, Dumbledore visited 4 Privet Drive to fetch Harry.[6] After doing some business along the way, the two eventually ended up at The Burrow. Before he departed, Dumbledore informed Harry that they would be having private lessons.[7] At the first of these, Dumbledore led Harry back into the Pensieve. Together they viewed the memory of Bob Ogden. He went to visit Morfin Gaunt as the young man had attacked a Muggle, later revealed to be Tom Riddle Sr. Harry watched as the oddities of the Gaunt family were displayed before him. He recoiled at the abuse Marvolo Gaunt used against his daughter, Merope. Following Mr. Ogden as he left the shack, Harry and Dumbledore returned to the Headmaster's office.[8]

A month later, they used the Pensieve to review Dumbledore's first visit with a young Tom Riddle. Harry saw the conditions in which the orphan boy grew up and heard the awful stories about his behaviour. He witnessed a demanding and cruel streak in Tom Riddle at quite a young age.[9]

1997

After Christmas holidays, Dumbledore called Harry down to his office.[10] They then watched two memories together, one in which Tom Riddle confronted his uncle Morfin Gaunt and later framed him for the murders of the Riddles, the other being a falsified memory of Horace Slughorn talking to Tom Riddle about Horcruxes.[10] Dumbledore then told Harry that, to proceed, they required the real memory from Slughorn.

When Harry had acquired the true memory of Horace Slughorn, he went to Dumbledore's office. He then saw the younger Horace Slughorn tell Tom Riddle about how to make a Horcrux and the main purpose of one.[12] Also, he noticed the concern in Slughorn when he saw the greedy expression upon Riddle's face. Due to Dumbledore's death at the end of the school year, that was Harry's last lesson with Dumbledore.

Severus Snape then became Headmaster of Hogwarts and took possession of the Pensieve, as almost all of Dumbledore's possessions were bequeathed to Hogwarts School.[13]

1998

At the death of Severus Snape during the Battle of Hogwarts, he left multiple memories from his childhood to Harry. Harry captured them when they leaked out of Snape's body in a flask conjured by Hermione Granger.[14] When they returned to the castle, Harry secretly proceeded to Dumbledore's office, where he watched Snape's memories.[15] He saw the child Snape meeting Lily and Petunia Evans, and telling Lily that she was a witch, and how Dementors guarded the wizard prison Azkaban. He then saw Lily and Petunia's argument where Petunia called Lily a "freak," which caused Lily to be a little angry at Snape, until she met Snape's enemies, James Potter and Sirius Black. Harry then saw Snape, Lily, and The Marauders' Sorting ceremony, where Snape was Sorted into Slytherin, while Lily was Sorted into Gryffindor.[15] As the memories continued, Harry saw how Snape calling Lily a "Mudblood" ruined their relationship and Snape's path to the service of Lord Voldemort. The rest of Snape's memories included Snape negotiating with Dumbledore and agreeing to keep Harry safe. Following this, Snape agreed to keep an eye on ProfessorQuirinus Quirrell and, later, told Dumbledore of Igor Karkaroff's anxiety. The last few included Snape agreeing reluctantly to kill Dumbledore, how Snape did not want Harry to die, despite the fact that Harry was a Horcrux and James Potter's son, because of his love of Lily Potter, how Snape ConfundedMundungus Fletcher into suggesting the "Seven Potters" scheme, how Snape tried to save George Weasley, but unintentionally cut off his ear, how Snape read Lily's letter to "Padfoot ," and how Snape used his silver doe to lead Harry to the Sword of Gryffindor.

Later usage

Etymology

Given J.K. Rowling's background in French, and omnipresent love of puns, it can resonably be concluded that a sieve of thought (pensée in French), and a state of meditative reflection such as the English pensive generally conveys, may well both have been in her mind when concocting this name.